As the premier lobbying organization for the oil and gas industry, the American Petroleum Institute has spent over $33 million on lobbying in the last five years (2008-2012, quarter 3). API also announced in 2011 that it would begin spending money to elect politicians through a new political aciton committee. API's PAC spent over $200,000 during the 2012 election. 70% of API's political donations go to Republicans, although CEO Jack Gerard says "energy is not about Republicans, not about Democrats."

API and Newt Gingrich: While spokespeople from API later denied a connection with Rep. Newt Gingrich's (R-GA) American Solutions for Winning the Future PAC, Gingrich and an API staff member both claimed the organizations have worked together.

By Oct. 20, API spent over $39 million on advertising strictly relating to energy and environmental issues in 2010. A new advocacy advertising campaign revealed at the end of 2011 will cost API $20 million. In 2012, API launched Vote 4 Energy. Vote 4 Energy is a continuation of API's Energy Citizens astroturf campaign intended to portray citizen support for the oil industry's business priorities, such as the tar sands Keystone XL pipeline, offshore drilling in the Arctic and hydraulic fracturing. API's broadcast advertising expenditures in 2012 cost $4.3 million as of April.

One week before President Obama delayed the construction of the full Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, API spent $600,000 on TV ads urging voters to "tell our president we need it [Keystone XL] now."

API and CEO Jack Gerard have repeatedly circulated a false job creation figure of 20,000 workers for the proposed Keystone, as opposed to estimates of 6,000 or less by the U.S. State Department and Cornell University, as well as a Greenpeace discovery that US job estimates on the were 67% higher per mile of US pipeline as opposed to numbers provided to the Canadian government. While one of API's main publicity claims is the oil industry's support for 9.2 million jobs, this inflated figure "includes not only legitimate direct and indirect jobs but more remote 'induced' jobs that the API has listed as including everything from day-care workers to valets to rocket scientists."

About Polluter Watch

PolluterWatch is a project of Greenpeace that holds polluters accountable for the work they’re doing to block the transition from the dirty fossil fuels of the past to the clean energy sources of the future.

The science is clear: We must take immediate action to avert the worst effects of global warming. But polluters, their lobbyists, and the politicians who work with them are holding the climate debate hostage and poisoning the debate about policies that would lower our greenhouse gas emissions and kickstart a clean energy revolution. Help us hold the polluters accountable. Get in touch today and find out how you can help. Learn More